In a highly anticipated encyclical on the environment, Pope Francis this week condemned widespread disengagement with the issue of global warming, using both scientific and theological arguments, and creating an opportunity for leaders from all faiths to address what their religion teaches about caring for creation.

Jana Al-Akhras, an American-born Muslim, began fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the second grade and has managed to observe the annual practice ever since — in winter and summer, during high school soccer practices and games and through long days of classes in college.

Churches seeking to recapture the growing numbers of religiously unaffiliated should forget about preserving the past and instead focus on the needs of those who see no need for organized religion, one mainline Protestant thought leader said.

“People lost at sea” has been prominent in the news headlines in the past few days. Thousands of Rohingyas, a Muslim sect, have fled persecution in what they say is their homeland in hopes of finding justice elsewhere.